OK, PLAltf 



capital. These islands are all 

 mouAtainous and volcanic, and 



282. 



contain rivers, marshes, mossy 

 grounds, and Juices. They pro- 

 dace tobacco, sugar, and rice of 

 the finest quality. As rice flou- 

 rishes best in swamps, 7, it is cul- 

 tivated extensively here. Rice 

 is a description of grass, bearing, 

 when in ear, a nearer resem- 

 blance to barley than any other 

 corn-plant. The ground of the rice- 

 plantation, which is generally 

 in a muddy state, is ploughed by 

 a buffalo, 8, yoked to a very 

 simple plough. The seed is then 

 sown by hand, and when the plants 

 have sprung up, the greater part 

 of them are pulled up and planted 

 in tufts, a process which is di- 

 rected with considerable care, the 

 labourers having rude baskets, 9, 

 into which to cast iceeds and un- 

 sound plants, and small tables, 

 10, upon which to arrange the 

 tufts. 



The 10th latitude N. and the 

 100th long. E. cross an extensive 

 peninsula, the central and south- 

 ern parts of which constitute 

 Siani. Here, too, there are ex- 

 tensive marshes in which rice is 

 cultivated. Some of the districts 

 are so watery, that the inhabitants 

 live in footing huts, 11, which 



teaching. 01 



are fixed by rings to bmnboos, 12, 

 driven in the ground, so that they 

 li 



rise or fall with the increase cr 

 decrease of water. 



The Siamese are a singularl^-curious people 

 of yellowish complexion j they h ive rather h«gh 

 cheek-bones, with little or no beards ; they are 

 well built. Men, women, and children shave 

 their heads with the exception of a small ui't, 

 which they allow to grow ahout an inch long 

 on the top of their head. Their large lips and 

 teeth are red, caused by chewing the betelnut. 

 tobacco, and chanum, giving them rather a 

 strange appearance. The Siamese ate very 

 fond of jewels, rings on their finders, tees, and 

 ankles, bracelets, ear-rings, etc., which are in 

 general gold and silver; though sorae wear 

 large iron rings round the wrist and ankle. 

 The women are rather masculine in their 

 features, and being dressed similarly to the 

 men, it is difficult to distinguish between them. 



The large island immediately 

 under the equator, long. 110', is 

 Borneo, the largest island in the 

 world, if Australia, on account of 

 its vast size, be considered a con- 

 tinent. This island has become 

 of importance, on account of its 

 having been recently ceded to 

 Britain, and Sir James Brooke 

 having been appointed the B,ajah 

 under the British crown. A prin- 

 cipal object of forming a British 

 settlement here is the suppression 

 of the piratical hordes who, from 

 this island, long continued to in- 

 fest the surrounding seas and 

 islands of the East Indian Archi- 

 pelago, plundering villages, and 

 often carrying off their whole 



